When you think about protecting your family and yourself from criminals, you probably envision a scary man approaching you with a gun. Or he breaks into your house. He might demand your money or wallet.

You hand it over and, hopefully, he leaves and you're all safe. As frightening as that is to imagine, you know the loss of your money and credit cards is nothing if it means protecting your family.

Unfortunately, crimes these days don't always happen in the open like that. It's a cyber world where criminals are remotely stealing your money. They could be thousands of miles away and infecting your computers with malware.

Or they could be sitting in their car in the parking lot as you're shopping in a supermarket or drug store. Or they could be home relaxing a few miles away while you're taking money out of the ATM or swiping your card at the gas pump. They're still getting your money and you won't even know it until you check you check your bank balance.

This credit card skimming crime is surging. Try this the next time you're on Google News. Type in "credit card skimmers" and you won't believe how many of these crimes are happening every day all around the country.

Just this week, skimmers have been found in stores and gas stations in Arizona, Idaho, Michigan, New York, Ohio and elsewhere.